Turkmen or Baluch?

[Phil Smythe Member Find all posts View Profile Close Phil Smythe]

Hi Phil - You can't tell whether adjacent nodes are part of the same knot from the back. Turn it over and separate the pile as best you can. If the knotting is depressed you'll see it as you look deeply into the pile.
Steve Price

Hi Steve, and thanks very much for your input.

But is your answer about finding the nodes of the one knot, or whether the knot is open left or open right? If the former, then this neophyte would humbly beg to differ that I need go to the front of the rug (besides, I don't have access to the rug at present) to find out, although I very humbly respect your expertise! I have in my short rug addiction spent more time 'studying' the back of rugs (under relatively high magnification) than the front, and I have never had any trouble discerning which two nodes are from the same / one knot. Of course much easier when not depressed knots and more or less tightly woven, but as long as not fully depressed then I find no problem with verify both nodes of semi depressed knots either, and have 'proven' myself correct (in what I got from the back of the rug only) time and time again. One can simply tell (under high mag) by the criss-crossing as it were of the tiny fibres in the wool from one node to the other as they 'point' in more or less opposite directions, so you can always find the pair (well, almost always). Of course, I could be barking (mad) right up a very large tree! But, that's been my experience so far.

But please Steve (or others), whatever you may think of my above, I certainly don't want you or anyone to think I just want to start an argument here, far from it, I'm just sharing my perspective as it were and trying to get to the bottom of this particular example above and explain my method of determining nodes of the one knot as it were.

Actually, this is (the above pic in question) the first time I can recall that have been left rather baffled by a relatively high mag of the back of all the rugs I have had the opportunity to look at magnified (which no doubt dwarfs in comparison to what you have handled Steve). Of course the above 'may' be fully depressed knots and we are only seeing one node of each knot, (and is what I at first thought), but upon further study of the pic I'll stick my neck out and say I am now leaning more towards they are knots with no depression, but the (two) nodes of each spaced rather widely apart / loosely woven and we are seeing both nodes of the one knot.
Be that as it may, I am off to the bunker with my helmet on, so I’ll be as ready as I can be for any incoming.

PS. I'll try to post a few pics over the weekend pointing out visually exactly what I mean the fibre ‘criss-crossing (effect) in the two nodes of the same knot.

Regards to all,
Phil

[Chuck Wagner Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Chuck Wagner]

Hi Phil,

The problem with the back-of-the-rug image you posted above is that everything is the same color. Pick another spot where knots of different colors are visible and get another closeup. Then it will be much simpler to work out, and explain, the details.

Regards
Chuck

[Steve Price Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Steve Price]

Hi Phil

I'm not offended. But my experience is that it's much easier from the pile side, and I'm always attracted to the easiest way. You can tell whether asymmetric knots open to the right or to the left just by running your hand across the carpet in both directions; much less bother than doing it the "right" way.

Steve Price